1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp fixture wherein a reflector is housed in a lamp body and a transparent front lens is attached to the lamp body.
2. Prior Art
Vehicle lamp fixtures include, among others, a moveable reflector type front lamp and an indicator lamp. In the moveable reflector type front lamp, a reflector is housed in a lamp body so as to be tiltable, and the indicator lamp generally has an inner reflector type reflector. In these lamp fixtures, a gap is inevitable between the reflector and the lamp body, and this gap appears dark when the lamp fixture is viewed from the front. When the front lens is transparent, the darkness of this gap is directly seen from the front of the fixture, giving the vehicle lamp fixture an extremely poor external appearance.
Therefore, an extension reflector or the like has been used to block such a gap between the reflector and the lamp body and improve the appearance of the lamp fixture.
However, providing an extension reflector or the like causes the problem of a proportional cost increase of the lamp fixture.
In view of the above, the object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle lamp fixture which improves the appearance of the lamp fixture at a low cost without requiring an extension reflector or the like.
The present invention achieves the foregoing object by a structure that prevents the gap between the reflector and the lamp body from being seen by the use of a non-transparency treatment applied to the region near the lamp body attachment portion of the front lens.
More specifically, the present invention is for a vehicle lamp fixture that comprises a light-source bulb, a reflector having a reflective surface which reflects the light from the light-source bulb forward, a lamp body which houses the reflector, and a transparent front lens attached to the lamp body so as to be in the front edge of the lamp body; and in the present invention, a non-transparency treatment is applied to a region which is near the lamp body attachment portion of the front lens.
The type of xe2x80x9cvehicle lamp fixturexe2x80x9d should not be limited to a particular lamp fixture. It refers to any type of lamp fixtures, including a front lamp such as a head lamp and a fog lamp and also an indicator lamp such as a tail lamp and a turn signal lamp.
The xe2x80x9cnon-transparent treatmentxe2x80x9d is performed so that the inside of the lamp fixture cannot be directly seen through the transparent front lens; and as far as this is satisfied, there is no limitation in the treatment range or treatment method. As a specific example of a treatment method, frost treatment, lens element forming treatment, painting treatment, and vacuum evaporation treatment and the like can be employed.
As seen from the above, in the vehicle lamp fixture according to the present invention, a reflector is housed in the lamp body, a transparent front lens is attached to this lamp body, and a non-transparent treatment is applied to the region near the lamp body attachment portion of the front lens. Accordingly, the gap between the reflector and the lamp body is prevented from appearing dark when the lamp fixture is viewed from the front.
Thus, the appearance of the lamp fixture is improved at a low cost without requiring that an extension reflector or the like be provided.
As described above, there is no limitation in the treatment range of the xe2x80x9cnon-transparent treatment.xe2x80x9d If the inner edge of the region in which the non-transparent treatment is applied is set to a position that substantially corresponds to the front peripheral edge of the reflector, not only is the gap prevented from appearing dark, but also the transparent area of the front lens can be ensured to the greatest extent possible. As a result, a sense of transparency of the lamp fixture is sufficiently maintained.
Generally speaking, in the vehicle lamp fixture, due to restrictions on, for instance, a space required for installation in the car body, a lamp body needs to have an extended portion which extends toward the front at least near the front edge portion of the lamp body. Also, a peripheral wall portion which extends toward the front from a reflective surface is often formed on the reflector. In view of these structural reasons, in the present invention, a part of the peripheral wall portion of the reflector which is located near an extended portion of the lamp body is formed as a reflector extended portion that extends toward the front of the lamp. By way of this structure, the following function and advantages are obtained:
With the reflector extended portion, the front edge of the reflector can be positioned close to the front end of the lamp body for the amount (or size) of the reflector extended portion; and it is possible to increase the area in which the non-transparent treatment is formed. Also, the reflector extended portion can conceal the back area of the gap between the reflector and the lamp body. Accordingly, the gap is even more effectively prevented from appearing dark.